- BroganRose -

Pages

Wednesday, 7 March 2018

We all know by now that any show that is being put together but Karl Lagerfeld and those who work with Chanel is going to be a spectacle. Rumour has it Lagerfeld keeps a sketchbook at arms reach even when sleeping to document all ideas that spring to mind. The whole collection was born on nostalgia and Lagerfeld's memories of his childhood in the country in North Hamburg.

I’ve always loved autumn. This is a kind of Indian summer, with all the leaves. It’s a beautiful mood - Lagerfeld

For this show in particular we were taken into the woods as the Grand Palais is transformed into a magical, fairy tale like woodland. Some of the 80 something models were seen bundled up in heavy duty, almost ground sweeping long line coats, constructed with sparkly corduroy, quilting and a Chanel favourite, tweed. Although a lot of the silhouettes seen were clearly very masculine and harped back to the 80's with many exaggerated shoulders and collars, the coats were coupled with a range of different scarves; brightly coloured, contrasting in pattern and texture and we also witnessed the introduction headscarves.

The opening of the show was more casual and mildly understated than ever seen before from Chanel, but as the show really began to take of the collection progressed into accent gold metallic counterparts and finger less gloves, reflecting the autumnal palette seen throughout the entirety of the collection. Every single piece in the collection showed off Chanel's ability to really experiment with texture, colour and pattern as silhouettes became oversized, sparkly and more appropriate for evening wear. The burnt oranges and browns remained muted and autumnal with the occasional flash of colour in the form of ethereal leaf prints adding to the fairy-tale like woodland theme.

The overexposure of flesh was kept to a minimum (obviously what you want to see from an A/W collection). Legs were covered by glossy and iridescent tights and fingerless neon gloves were worn reaching the elbows when being paired with the classic little or ankle grazing black dress.
Much of the evening wear took form in delicate gossamer's of black lace both long sleeved and high necked with pretty little chained spaghetti straps. The appearance of the black evening dress in this collection is somewhat iconic after women joined forces in wearing black during award season for the #TimesUp campaign.

Of course there were a few famous faces on the runway including Lagerfeld's new favourite, daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford, Kaia Gerber. Wearing a black knee length lace dress with a pair of fuchsia finger less gloves, Kaia proved to all spectators why she deserved to walk the show for Lagerfeld.

Sunday, 11 June 2017

Maria Grazia Chirui's debut at Christian Dior saw the excitement which was femininity. Not the make up and design of the clothes themselves, but the trend that was set to take Spring 2017 by storm. A cotton t-shirt reading 'We should all be feminists', paired with an embellished midnight blue tulle skirt - there was no doubt why this look became the most talked about part of the show on all social media outlets. As soon as the shirts hit stores, Dior were immediately criticised for cashing in on politics, by trying to sell empowerment.

This raises the question, is there a place for both fashion and politics?

Following Dior's Spring 17 show, the shirt was seen on three of the brands ambassadors, Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence and Natalie Portman. It was Portmans appearance at the Women's March back in January which caught attentions, as she gave a speech in Los Angeles calling out President Trump for his behaviour towards women and then encouraging women to take on leadership roles and support other women. Personally, I love the idea of empowering women through fashion and this trend does exactly that by encouraging women to join the current feminist revolution since the election of Trump. Natalie Portman presents a powerful message in wearing the shirt to the march and continues to wear the slogan tee long after, as seen earlier this month.

Dior ambassadors - Natalie Portman, Jennifer Lawrence & Rihanna

It didn't take long for feminist merchandise to appear on the high street and soon it was embraced by the worlds fashion bloggers and other women in society. I even picked up a shirt myself from Topshop which simply reads 'Feminist' - as mentioned I love the trend but it does make you wonder just how politically engaged consumers are?

I will admit that when I wore the shirt, my main concern was what it was going to go with. I had no regard for the message it was to portray, showing myself, like many others didn't necessarily support the meaning of the movement or its political nature. The shirt just became an accessory to fashion. This is not me in anyway saying that I don't support feminism because I really do, I just bought the item thinking it was nothing other than a t shirt which I believe isn't what designers including Dior or Prabal Gurung had in mind when putting their designs out there.

Now of course the trend has dispersed and has developed into other slogans 'Females are the future' and 'Girl power' as females become hungry for the high street option. What I wasn't expecting when browsing similar designs online was to find shirts on well known brands websites reading 'Boys lie and 'No f*** boys'. Since when did it become okay to bash other genders through fashion? These shirts may not be displaying any sort of political message but it makes you wonder why women are empowered through these statement tees and not men?

The fashion industry should answer to all gender struggles and reflect society around us, which I do believe is evident in high fashion NOT on the high street.

Would you spend £490 on a designer t-shirt?

Since the famous Dior shirt hit boutiques, the label has pledged to donate a percentage of the items proceedings, to charity The Clara Lionel Foundation - an organisation founded by Dior ambassador Rihanna. The singer was named Humanitarian of the Year 2017 by the Harvard Foundation. The aim of the charity is to benefit those impoverished in across the globe, pushing children into education and giving them access to healthcare. Of course it makes sense to partner with the Clara Lionel Foundation, especially as many of the rights embrace by the charity are under attack in both the Western and developing world. But then why the 'We should all be feminists' quote if the proceeds are not going to charities which focus their work on helping young women in impoverished states - charities such as the invisible girl project and the Global Women's Project?

"My position in a house as influential as Dior, but also my role as a mother, reminds me every day of my responsibilities and the importance of my actions."- Maria Grazia Chirui

While feminism as a trend seems to be going nowhere this season, I cannot help but wonder whats next for fashion and politics? Will the two ever become the perfect fit?

Saturday, 10 June 2017

No surprise at all - I went AWOL from the blogging scene.

My home for the last 9 months has been the university library, work and my bed, meaning anytime I have had to myself has been spent either with friends or my loved ones. After half a million lectures and seminars, tireless evenings in the library, one ECF submission and one too many lost library books I have finally finished my degree!!

I'm quite surprised myself that I even reached the end of my degree after threating that I wouldn't be able to do it after realising my degree wasn't really for me, but I stuck it out until the end.

My whole university experience would not have been worthwhile if it wasn't for the support of my friends, family and tutors and I thank them all from the bottom of my heart.

Now that I am finished I am finally able to delve back into doing something I love; writing.

Wednesday, 7 September 2016

An article written by Olivia Goldhill (The Telegraph) suggested that supermodels are a thing of the past and are 'just so nineties'. With the increase of celebrity supermodels like Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid I guess we could say this is in fact true? Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford were all big household names through out the 90's, appearing in almost every high end fashion ad and magazine covers and I guess this was easy for them? The only famous faces seen in ads have been actresses like Margot Robbie (Calvin Klein), Jennifer Lawrence (Dior) and Keira Knightley (Chanel). Is there someone or something to blame for this? Maybe the rise of social media?

Anna Wintour in 1989 took the controversial step in changing the girls that appeared on the cover American Vogue - Wintour very bravely replaced supermodels on the cover with actresses and women with other talents. Personally, I would prefer to see the likes of Adele on the cover of Vogue than a women who fits a specific 'stereotype' of the typical supermodel. But then how are these women (models) supposed to make a name for themselves if they cannot land these huge campaigns and covers? Surely were are asking them to conform to the stereotype of a supermodel, by asking them to totter along the catwalk in high heels and with their skinny legs and curve-less bodies (probably a tad excessive) instead of using their talents elsewhere.People are not happy with the likes of Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid being referred to as supermodels - this is the reason for me writing this post. By definition a supermodel is 'a successful fashion model who has reached the status of a celebrity' therefore the term does apply to both Jenner and Hadid. You cannot deny them the title due to wealth, family, celebrity status and social media following. Ex-Supermodel Cindy Crawford has been vocal on this very topic of supermodels being in decline commenting that "Models are not really getting covers now and they’re not getting the big cosmetics contracts and that’s where the money is. It’s actresses and singers and reality TV people." I happen to disagree with this - Kendall Jenner found fame in the reality TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashian's alongside her family and has landed the September cover of American Vogue, walked for Victoria's Secret and is the face of Estée Lauder. If anything I believe the likes of Kendall, Gigi and Cara have paved the way for new generation of supermodel - especially with their presence and following on social media. These women have power! You can go ahead and argue that these models get castings and contracts due to this all you like, but they can hardly help their popularity and fame? There is clearly a difference between a model in the 90's and the 00's - Social media.

Remaining on the topic of social media, I headed to Twitter to do a bit of research of my own (only a poll, so hardly what you would call research) asking the simple question seen below. Simple. So, 52% of the people who answered the poll believed Kendall, Gigi, Cara and Kaia ARE in fact supermodels. I was rather taken back by this as I honesty believed that many would answer no. As mentioned, the reason for me writing this post was due to peoples opinion on these women on social media!

To be honest, these girls are no doubt supermodels in their own right. Claudia Schiffer said "In order to become a supermodel one must be on all the cover all over the world at the same time so that people can recognise the girls." - This isn't necessary as such any more but the likes of Kendall and Gigi are absolutely everywhere in the fashion industry, not just seen on magazines.Case closed.

Wednesday, 24 August 2016

Growing up I have always been more than content with the way I looked. Blue eyes, mousey brown hair and a slim figure. Theres never been the need to maintain the way I looked - I simply did what others girls did; eat reasonably well, pamper myself here and there and hope for the best. It worked for me. However, keeping up appearances hasn't always been the easiest for me. Well I say 'me' but what I really mean is everyone else. People say you are your own worst enemy and critic. I happen to disagree on some level.

I think every university student can agree that the years you are at uni change you, whether its good or bad, it does. I would say university has helped me to discover who I really am and establish what it is I really from life - but I really don't feel like me. I look back at pictures of myself when I first started university and I want nothing more than to just be that girl again. The girl that hardly had a trouble in the world and was at least happy, happy as a person and happy with herself.

Now whats really prompted me to sit and write this post at a ridiculous time is my battle with rumination. Thinking deeply about things over and over again. These 'things' are mostly comments people have made about me. Someone could have said something to me a few months ago and it will still be with me right now this second and whilst the person who made the comment probably wouldn't remember saying it I still do. The worst comment to this day someone has made about me is on my weight. As I said, I had blue eyes, mousey brown hair and a slim figure. That is what I would have told someone a couple of years ago if I was to briefly describe myself. That is how I would identify me as me. Again, university and every aspect of life changes you and I feel as though it has changed me both physically and mentally. I still have blue eyes, my hair is beyond repair and I am now a size 10-12 no longer that slim size 8.

If I had a pound for every time someone made a comment about my weight since coming away from university I would probably have enough money to not go to university. I can hardly say I am happy with what people have said otherwise I would be writing. I am aware that I have changed physically but what I don't need is people telling me so - 'Be sure to taste your words before you spit them out'. Its funny because you can justify peoples comments all you want and try to pretend as though you don't care but deep down inside you feel numb. Is what I'm seeing different to what others are seeing? I thought I looked better? If anything I looked a bit healthier. Obviously not.

I can try to change but I tell myself I can't. I'm just stuck in this vicious cycle. I'm happy, you make a comment, I'm determined to change BUT I CAN'T. Eughh. I am slowly taking those necessary steps to make me feel like me again - getting back into a routine and doing the things I enjoy. Its difficult but hopefully I will get there and maybe, just maybe, I will be that blue eyed, mousey brown haired girl with a slim figure again.

Tuesday, 23 August 2016

Us beauty lovers here in the UK have been awaiting the day ColourPop becomes available to ship in the UK. Petitions have been made and so on - finally they listened! ColourPop now ships to the UK!!!! I was put off ordering for quite some time due to the price of delivery and the possibility of there being any other additional charges. The only times I have ordered from the US is when I've purchased something from Kylie Cosmetics - For one lipkit including shipping I've thankfully only paid £30 and have avoided extra charges. Since ColourPop has been available to us Brits I have heard a few ladies have been stung by the extra charges but I bit the bullet eventually and made an order anyway!

ColourPop are well known for their liquid lipsticks and eyeshadows, so it would be rude for me not to pick up a couple. I purchased 4 Ultra Matte Lips in the shades Succulent, Bumble, Tulle and Mars, 1 Ultra Satin Lip in the shade The Rabbit and lastly 2 of their eyeshadows in DGAF and La La. There was such a good range of shades (majority being nudes) for all skin tones and seasons so it a while for me to decide which products I was going to be buying.

In the sun top to bottom - The Rabbit, Mars, Succulent, Bumble & Tulle

The colours all but one, I would say are exactly as described. Tulle is a lot darker than I anticipated - I guess it will be the perfect shade for the upcoming autumnal months? All of the lip products apply like an absolute dream and dry extremely quickly so you will have to be speedy when applying the product. With there being a lot of comparison between the ColourPop liquid lipsticks and the Kylie Jenner lipkits I had to test them against each other - Personally I 100% prefer ColourPop! The liquid lipsticks feel weightless on the lips and you honestly wouldn't realise you had anything on. Kylie's lipkits feel very mouse-like on the lips which isn't a problem, but I do find the flake in the centre of the lips after a few hours of wear. Don't get me wrong I love Kylie's lipkits but the texture, longevity and the price are a winner when it comes to ColourPop - They also don't have such a sweet sickly scent like Kylie's. Win win!!

Holy smoke. The shadows. Its difficult to describe the texture of them exactly - they feel like mouse to the touch but apply like a power shadow. Confusing? I'm also the biggest sucker for metallic/glitter shadows, so I was surprised at how pigmented and sparkly these were. The smallest swipe of the shadow will give you so much product!

Natural light - La La & DGAF

Sunlight - La La & DGAF

I guess you are probably wondering how much I paid for the order? All lip products were $6 (£4.55 in the UK) and the shadows were priced at $5 (£3.79 in the UK), shipping to the UK was was a hefty $25 (£18.96) so altogether I paid £45.50! For 5 liquid lipsticks and 2 eyeshadows I am not complaining especially as I pay £30 for one Kylie Jenner lipkit.

Delivery wasn't all that bad as well. My order was despatched 4 working days after it was placed and took an additional 5 days to reach my home address. The ColourPop estimated that delivery would take roughly 7-21 days. I was worried about it taking any longer than 14 days as I am so impatient when it comes to makeup deliveries. I usually order everything next day delivery but you obviously cannot do that in the US to the UK.

Saturday, 30 July 2016

Adding character and excitement to your summer wardrobe, I find is a challenge when transitioning from one season to another. Colour palettes get brighter, more of the flesh is exposed and clothing gets lighter and a hell of a lot more comfortable. One thing I guarantee that will never change between seasons are accessories - pearls remain in my ears, people remain obsessed with delicate rose gold items and the watch will always stand as that timeless piece in everyones collection. Being an admirer of watches I was beyond excited when I was approached by luxury watch company JORD Wood Watches asking to collaborate - this was to be the dream collaboration.

JORD create magnificent hand-crafted wood timepieces from a multitude of the most beautiful woods and materials. I choose the Maple finish from the Fieldcrest Series. The wood itself is a lovely light colour, being the perfect compliment against tanned skin throughout the summer months and the colour of course makes it easy to wear the piece with any outfit in your wardrobe. The watch itself is extremely lightweight and the watch itself is scratch resistant meaning it is perfect for everyday wear. I have been wearing the piece almost everyday since I received it and have had so many comments on the watch!

The watch came packaged in this stunning wooden box (see pictures) with the watch sitting upon a JORD cushion. Such a sweet way to present such a stunning item, right? You can really tell that every single last detail has been carefully thought of when designing both the watch and its packaging. I have always found this super important with watches as many tend to come poorly packaged, leaving the watch unprotected and vulnerable to damage.

JORD are also giving one of my readers the chance of wining a $75 e-voucher to spend on the site - Everyone who enters will also get a $20 e-gift card (excluding the winner). To enter yourself in the contest simply follow this link - https://www.woodwatches.com/g/broganrose. The $75 voucher will expire 30/09/2016 and the $20 expire 31/12/2016. GOOD LUCK!!!!